- reviewed by Keshawnta J.

Eminem's recently released full length LP is his fourth and arguably weakest album ever. The album is like a tale of two mindstates, which is fitting being that Eminem seems to have a number of personalities. The album has very serious moments, but its laced throughout with the fare that we've become accustomed to from Em--comic relief. The album isn't bad, it's just not good. It's alright. There wasn't much growth on this album: beats, flows, and content are all reminiscent of Eminem songs past.

Per the usual Dr. Dre and Eminem were behind the boards and provided almost all of the beats. One of the most compelling songs on this album is "Like Toy Soldiers". In this song Em samples Martika's 1980's hit "Toy Soldiers" and laments over much of the drama he's endured in the industry over the past few years. more..

- reviewed by Keshawnta J.

Eminem's recently released full length LP is his fourth and arguably weakest album ever. The album is like a tale of two mindstates, which is fitting being that Eminem seems to have a number of personalities. The album has very serious moments, but its laced throughout with the fare that we've become accustomed to from Em--comic relief. The album isn't bad, it's just not good. It's alright. There wasn't much growth on this album: beats, flows, and content are all reminiscent of Eminem songs past.

Per the usual Dr. Dre and Eminem were behind the boards and provided almost all of the beats. One of the most compelling songs on this album is "Like Toy Soldiers". In this song Em samples Martika's 1980's hit "Toy Soldiers" and laments over much of the drama he's endured in the industry over the past few years.

He mentions both his beef with Source magazine owner Benzino and his protege 50 Cent's beef with Ja Rule and Murder Inc. He regrettably talks about 50 unfairly inheriting his beefs and he 50's, but he's not remorseful and he's willing to ride it out, until the threat of violence becomes too great. On this song, Em flirts with retirement and says, "I'll walk away from it all, before I let it go any further". The 30-something MC seemed to grow up right before our ears on this track. He also reverted back to child-like ways on other tracks, which remains consistent with the Eminem we've all grown to know and love.

On "Ass Like That" Em gives it up to women with great asses. The chorus goes: The way you move it/you make my pee pee go/ doing doing doing. The lyrics are garbage, but the beat holds the promise so much more than Em delivered lyrically.

"Spend Some Time" is a song that will probably only appeal to the female demographic. Em is joined on this cut by his boys Obie Trice, Stat Quo, and 50 Cent. This is a love song of sorts. Each man rehashes tales of women who've wrong him. All except 50, he's just being 50 and he's talking about an "inspiring actress that needs to suck his dick to get her career moving in the right direction." The song is slow with a an R&B chorus and sounds like something that most men would simply skip. Me, I've got it on repeat.

"Puke" is probably the most ridiculous and disgusting song on this album. The song starts out with Em vomitting and then going into talking about one of his favorite topics over the years, his ex-wife Kim. On the chorus Em chants "You make me sick to my stomach/everytime I think of you I puke." I was quite impressed that Kim, who once angered Eminem enough to write songs about murdering her, has calmed down enough to the point where she only makes him want to blow chunks. I will probably be in the vast minority, but I really like this song. Though it's stupid, it's classic Eminem and it's very catchy.

On "Yellow Brick Road" Eminem tells us his plight of being a young white boy growing up in the hood. He talks about being white and being into hip-hop and all the discrimination he faced and all of the abuse he put up with. On this song, he also references the tape that surfaced where he used the infamous N-word. He explained what triggered the anger that caused him to use the word. He apologized for taking his anger on the black girl that dumped him out on an entire race. He says, "I apologize cause no matter what color a girl is she's still a hoe."

As usual there's a dedication to his daughter Hailie on this album. Nothing and no one brings out the sensitive side of Eminem like his baby girl. On "Mockingbird" he explains to Hayley the complex relationship he has with her mother. He tells her of her mom's drug addiction and let's her know that no matter what her mom loves and he will always be there for her. He lets her know that there were times when they didn't have much money, but life was all good between he and Kim and they were happy in spite of it all. Very touching.

At times listening to this CD was giving me a headache. Some songs are so senseless and annoying that I zoned out and didn't hear much of what was being said. I've never listened to an entire CD where there were no bright spots and "Encore" is no different. There are enough songs on the CD that are actually good, even some of the sillier ones. This CD doesn't compare to any of Em's past full length CDs, but all of those were well above average and this one just doesn't compare to those. This album is great compared to those of some of his peers. Many of the songs seem like filler and others seem like he was just in the studio joking around over a beat and threw it on the album for no good reason.

This album will probably not get as many accolades as past Eminem albums, but it's not a complete waste. Hell, if you're a diehard Eminem fan, you'll love it as it doesn't stray from the familiar. Overall, Eminem has underwhelmed me, but the album is not a complete disappointment.